The beauty queen was dethroned from her position as Miss California USA on June 10. The Miss California USA Organization has said she was fired for her "unwillingness to make [public] appearances." In the lawsuit, she claims she was punished for her religious beliefs, which include opposition to same-sex marriage. She stated her opposition during the Miss USA pageant on April 19 in response to a question from judge Perez Hilton.

In the suit, Prejean claims that prior to the pageant, Lewis and Moakler "had no tolerance for religious beliefs in their organization." The suit also says Lewis was the executive producer of For the Bible Tells Me So, a 2007 film that examines how religious families respond to having gay children, and asked pageant participants to watch the film. Prejean also says Moakler told her "she had to stop mentioning God."

Prejean's attorney, Charles LiMandri, told TVGuide.com that Prejean was willing to make public appearances.

"Lewis didn't want her making appearances," he said. "He made it very hard for her."

Prejean also claims that Neal told her after a Today show appearance in which she again spoke about her beliefs, "We are done with you. You are on your own."

"He canceled her public appearances and didn't pay for her return trip home from New York," said LiMandri.

The suit further claims the pageant officials created a fraudulent list of more than 50 public appearances they claimed Prejean missed, and released the list to the news media to justify her dismissal.

While the suit frequently mentions Hilton, LiMandri said the gossip blogger wasn't named because the "standards are different for the media than the people she had contractual relationships with." LiMandri said the decision to not to file suit against Hilton "may change depending upon what he continues to do and say."